Chapter 17 — Guess, MVP Heiress Has Returned

In the days after Y Nhi's press conference, Yen Chi kept his promise to Bach Khang: did not make any public statements to refute, and did not participate in any interviews related to the family incident. Instead, she focused all her attention on practicing, competing, and quietly coordinated with Bach Khang to complete the final pieces of the investigation file.

That strategy of silence, although psychologically difficult, proved to be more effective than Yen Chi thought. Camera lenses still follow her in every match, and every time she appears, her face always remains calm and absolutely professional, with no signs of panic or guilt that some people expected to see after her sister's emotional press conference.

In the next group stage match, Yen Chi continued to show impressive performance, winning convincingly against another strong opponent. After the match, when the reporter tried to ask her about the accusations that Y Nhi made at the press conference, Yen Chi only replied briefly, calmly: "I respect my sister's right to express her feelings. But I believe that the truth, although it may take time to be fully proven, will eventually be clarified. For now, I just want to focus on what I can control — that is my own performance."

That calm, non-attacking answer, in stark contrast to the image of a "cold oppressor" that Y Nhi had tried to build, gradually caused a part of public opinion to begin to ask the opposite question: if Yen Chi was really as bad a person as what was hinted at, why did she react so calmly and somewhat tolerantly, instead of fiercely counterattacking as one often saw from those who were exposed?

Meanwhile, Bach Khang's silent investigation continued to make important progress. The cybersecurity expert he hired verified that the technology forum account that posted questions about techniques for exploiting log system vulnerabilities - which Bach Khang suspected belonged to Bui Dac Long - had an IP address that matched the IP address of Anh Kim Group's office at the exact hours that account was active.

"This is very strong indirect evidence," Bach Khang told Yen Chi in a private meeting evening, "but not enough to confirm with one hundred percent certainty that it was Bui Dac Long who did it, because the office IP address can be shared by many employees. We need to add one last link."

"What link?" Yen Chi asked.

"Proof of financial transactions, or direct communication between Long, Y Nhi and Lam Dac Uy about specific plans," Bach Khang replied. "If we have that, we will have a complete, irrefutable chain of evidence."

Yen Chi pondered for a moment, then suddenly remembered something. "Dinh Quoc Bao once accidentally saw Y Nhi's text messages with someone with the saved name 'Mr. Long' mentioning 'next week's plan' and 'match data'. If Y Nhi still keeps those messages on her phone, that could be the direct evidence we need."

"But we can't arbitrarily violate her personal phone," Bach Khang said, his voice cautious. "Not only would that violate ethics, but it could also violate the law, rendering our entire effort worthless in court or before a disciplinary panel."

"I understand," Yen Chi replied. "But perhaps, if the technical council is officially investigating the origin of the complaint, they have the legal authority to request the provision of relevant communications data, right?"

"That's right," Bach Khang nodded, his eyes lit up. "I will propose to the technical council to expand the scope of the investigation, requiring examination of communication data between relevant parties within the legal scope, based on the indirect evidence of IP addresses that we already have."

Yen Chi nodded, feeling relieved as she saw the road ahead gradually becoming clearer. "We're getting closer to the truth."

"That's true," Bach Khang replied, "but I also have to warn you, when they realize we are getting closer to exposing the entire plot, they may be more reckless, even more dangerous, to stop it. You need to be mentally prepared for this possibility."

Yen Chi was silent for a moment, then nodded firmly. "I have been prepared for every possibility, since the day I decided not to give way anymore."

A few days later, the technical council officially expanded the scope of the investigation, sending a document requesting Anh Kim Group and related individuals to cooperate in providing contact data within the scope of work, based on indirect evidence of suspicious IP addresses. This news, although not yet widely announced, quickly reached Lam Dac Uy's ears through a relationship in the tournament organizing committee.

He summoned Y Nhi and Bui Dac Long to an urgent meeting at his familiar apartment, his face unable to hide his worry. "The technical council is expanding the investigation, requesting communication data. Long, have you erased all traces on the system?"

"I deleted the work files on the company server," Long replied, his voice trembling somewhat, "but the personal messages between me and Ms. Y Nhi..."

"What?" Lam Dac Uy shouted and turned to look at Y Nhi. "Do you still have the text messages exchanging plans on your phone?"

Y Nhi turned pale and quickly pulled out her phone to check, her hands shaking as she scrolled through the conversations. She realized that a few sensitive messages were still saved in the dialog box with Long. Although she had deleted most of them, perhaps not completely, and worse, she vaguely remembered once lending her phone to Dinh Quoc Bao to transfer files right at the moment the conversation opened on the screen.

"I... I will delete everything right away," Y Nhi said, her voice panicked, her hands hurriedly working on the phone.

"Deleting now might be too late," Lam Dac Uy said, his voice cold and calculating, "if anyone on the team had seen the content of the message before you deleted it, that would be oral testimony against us, even though there is no physical evidence. We need to consider a backup plan now."

The atmosphere in the apartment became stuffy. Y Nhi sat down on the sofa, holding her head in her hands. For the first time during the plan, a feeling of real fear invaded her, instead of just jealous determination like before. But having come to this point, she knows she has no way back, she can only continue to rush forward, hoping to turn the situation around before everything completely collapses.

Meanwhile, at the Bach Ung Gaming training center, Bach Khang silently invited Dinh Quoc Bao to his office to record an official report, in the presence of the team's legal representative, about what he accidentally witnessed on Y Nhi's phone.

"You don't need to worry," Bach Khang reassured when he saw Quoc Bao's tense expression. "This is just a voluntary statement, recording exactly what you saw and heard, there is nothing you need to fear. The truth, no matter how small, is valuable in clarifying the whole case."

Quoc Bao nodded and recounted in detail what he remembered about the text message between Y Nhi and the person with the saved name "Mr. Long", emphasizing the phrases "next week's plan" and "match data" that he had reported to Yen Chi earlier. The legal representative took careful notes, asked Quoc Bao to sign the report, and pledged to keep the identity of the information provider confidential during the initial investigation stage to avoid any risk of retaliation.

After Quoc Bao left the office, Bach Khang looked at the completed documents and felt a certainty gradually forming. Although there was no direct physical evidence such as the original message, the testimony of specific witnesses, combined with indirect evidence of the IP address and abnormalities in the log file, had created a logical chain strong enough to present to the technical council.

He called Yen Chi that night. "We've got another important piece of the puzzle," he said. "Quoc Bao has agreed to officially testify. Combined with all the available evidence, I believe we have enough to present a convincing picture to the council, perhaps as soon as next week."

When Yen Chi heard the news, a feeling of relief mixed with excitement rose in her heart. "Thank you, and thank Quoc Bao for bravely testifying. I know it's not easy, especially when having to indirectly confront another teammate on your own team."

"The truth always requires courage to be told," Bach Khang replied. "And I believe we are very close to the time when that truth will no longer be denied."